The Doppelgänger
by The Not-so-present Something
Summary: Sticky discovers his feelings for Teri, while Gumball and Darwin are on a hunt for someone.
1. Sticky's Situation

**Heyas, it's me again! I hope you like this story. ****It was created just last September, but edited again to correct those small typos.**

* * *

><p>"What the AHHH!" Matt the red sentient doormat flipped to his side, flattening himself and barely avoiding a speeding projectile. The projectile hit the school wall and bounced over. It turned out to be a basketball, covered in poop.<p>

"Haha-AH!" Tobias ducked as the basketball flew over him, bouncing off the basketball pole in the schoolyard. The ball flew, and then bounced over to the other disgusted bystanders, just barely touching them. Unlucky for others, some of the poop flew to them. One of these was Leslie. "Eww! Keep it away from me!"

"Hahahaha-" Banana Joe was cut off by himself gasping, slipping on himself and dodging the ball. The ball bounced over again, this time over the school fence. Unfortunately it found a landing place on Mrs. Robinson's wig, who was with Mr. Robinson in their car. They sped by and away, clueless about their new stowaway. Mrs Robinson grumbly muttered something under her breath, as what she always did.

"Well I wasn't the one who forgot to buy the soap!" Retorted her husband who was just as equally grumpy.

Back at the schoolyard, the kids were snickering. A sentient limbless teapot named Ronald sighed. "I'm so grateful that I'm a teapot and not a ball or anything"

"I guess its best that we scoop up the dirt before we play a match. Now there goes our second basketball…" Replied his watermelon friend, Walter

Tobias beamed at this, and pulled on a smug face. "Not to worry dudes because I brought a spare!" Tobias raised what he was clutching behind his back. It was a brand new basketball, so recently bought it shone like a crystal.

Then the basketball came to life. "Yeah-no, I'm too young to be in danger of getting filthy so I'm not playing with you guys." With that the basketball hopped over the fence, this time hitching a ride with a truck.

"Bk bk bk psh bk bk bk bk pshh!" Juke the beatbox guy complained. Matt shrugged. "Oh well."

Ronald, Walter and Lewis parted ways with the other kids. Joining them was none other than Matt, unamused and in hot water. "Literally, I might just have to soak myself in boiling water to get the stains and smell off of my beautiful fur!"

"You don't have fur, not unlike me!" Lewis the liger flipped his head and swiveled his body, his fur flowing esthetically like waves in the ocean. His fur let out some magical sparkles.

"…right, I call it that." The doormat said as he shooed away the sparkles. "Because I just wish I had smooth and comfy fur instead of some rough and tangly skin." As he said the word "tangly", his arms got tangled into his rough skin and became stuck. Matt struggled at his arms until they were free.

"Well it's not that hard. All it takes to have a coat such as mine is to shampoo thoroughly two times a day."

"You mean shampoo and soap yourself since you're cleaning your whole body and not just your head." Matt probed.

"…Mhmm, whatever you say. Oh yeah…by the way, where is Sticky?"

At this thought everyone grew silent. Then suddenly a loud scream. Turning around to the source, they found a recovering Teri (who had fainted at the sign of the filthy basketball) along with a handful of friends helping her up. "Ewww!"

The hypochondriac paper girld had some of the dirt on her feet. They were just small marks, marks as large as half the head of a pin. Regardless, she didn't care. "I'll need to go to the infirmary! It'll take forever to disinfect my feet!"

As Teri and some other girls went to the infirmary with her, the guys followed them in their gaze. Eventually they found Sticky, their 2-dimensional stickman friend standing there in their sights.

"Okay…there's Sticky! Hey Sticky!" Lewis called over to the stickman. He did not budge. "Is he deaf or broken or something?"

"Probably 'wandering' off again. You know Sticky…and his thoughts." The mat shuddered a bit. He remembered a time that the stickman's thoughts had bordered with twisted ones. Sticky may not be strong or very sociable, but he was a big thinker.

"Hello! STIcky DOMinic PLANEsfield!" Lewis called again. Still no response. After waiting awhile for some possible movement, Walter grabbed a chocolate bar and consumed the remaining chocolate. Then he crumpled the wrapper, and handed it to Lewis. "Here, try this."

"What? Taste the wrapper?"

"I meant throw it at him."

Lewis grabbed the crumpled wrapper. Than like a baseball pitcher, he threw it at the stickman. The wrapper bounced off, flinging back into Lewis' direction and landing back to his hand as if he never threw it. Sticky had not budged. "Alright, you asked for this…"

Lewis the liger turned an imaginary cap backwards on his head, then took a look at the stickman. He closed his eyes and suddenly the background became flashing colors. He opened his eyes again as he threw the ball.

"Stickachu, I choose you!"

The ball opened and let fort a stream of light, the light materializing into a 2-dimensional black-and-white Pikachu.

"Use agility then lightning ball!"

The 2D rodent did as commanded. "Sticka! Sticka! Sticka! Sticka! Stickachuuuuu!"

With all his strength, the Stickachu sent a lightning ball towards the stickman. The ball went so fast it distorted all forces against it. Everything went normal as the wrapper fell off the stickman once again. This time it was rolling away from the liger. Stickachu disappeared and the flashing colorful background reverted to normal.

"What were you doing?" Walter asked his slightly weird friend.

Lewis was abruptly snapped out of his imagination. He closed his eyes with a fist raised in the air as streams of tears came forth from his eyes. Lewis whispered to himself. "That looked so much better in my mind..."

Ronald clinked. "Lets just go to him"

The four approached the seemingly unmovable stickman. Since he was 2D flat, it was like approaching a flat metal plate, or a very sturdy memorial plaque in the middle of a park. Ronald the teapot hopped in front of the stickman. He seemed taken a back by what he saw. "Sticky?"

The four checked his face. It looked as if the stickman was struck, and entranced at the same time by something. His expression was one of alarm, and oddly of being pleased by something.

"Probably got scared." Lewis concluded.

"Of what, the filth?" The teapot asked heroically. "Sticky isn't much of a germaphobe. He looks kinda happy though."

"Perhaps he got nervous or overexcited?" Walter suggested.

"Not likely."

Lewis poked the stickman's eye. It did not move. "Hmm…"

Then suddenly he chuckled and took out a pen. As Walter was pacing wondering about the predicament of their stick friend, Matt looked back on the stickman's face and also started to chuckle. Lewis replaced the pen he had and chuckled with Matt. When Walter looked back at his friend's face, his look was one of disapproval. "What the…guys!"

Sticky now had a monocle, a mustache and what seemed to be a nose ring and necklace of some sort drawn on his flat face. The others, including Ronald kept chuckling and eventually started laughing, making a tremendous effort to contain their amusement.

"Come on! Lets take him to the infirmary to see whats wrong with him." Walter said.

* * *

><p>It was still recess time. All was still in the school hallway when suddenly a locker burst forth, revealing Darwin in his shining glory.<p>

The legged fish's cat brother hissed at him from another locker. "Dude! Get back inside!"

Darwin rolled out of the locker as a compact cube, eventually popping back to his normal self. "Sorry, but it's too cramped I could feel my tail touching my eyes!"

"Just hide man. If he thinks we're gone, then maybe he'll show up anytime now."

At the infirmary, the five had indeed went. But Sticky being unresponsive as he had been had to be carried. It was like carrying paper and flat sticks (for his limbs). Matt had the 2D man over his back, holding the stickman's arms over his head (since he technically had no shoulders). As they entered, they unexpectedly waltzed into a heated argument.

"…you for the last time that there is nothing wrong with you. Its just a little dirt, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it!" The School Nurse roared.

A rather soft but firm matter-of-factly voice responded. "Well, I'll have you know that in every square inch, even every millimeter of soil and dirt there is bacteria! And maybe even some other harmful pathogens unknown to the books of medical science!"

"I told you to just clean it off."

"Not until I have been examined!"

"Uh excuse us but we have a case over here." Lewis awkwardly butted in.

The bandaid nurse, and Teri had stopped to take a look at the liger. The abrupt end of the fight brought with their stares heated gazes, gazes which made Lewis a bit uneasy and almost dizzy. Lewis went on to gesture towards Matt, who in response dumped the unresponsive stickman on the floor unceremoniously, landing with a not-so-soft thud. The stickman continued to stare straight.

"Pretty self-explanatory here"

The nurse waved a hand over Sticky's eyes. No response.

"Ugh." Teri cringed, "What happened to him?"

"Thats why we came here." The liger said.

Suddenly seemingly in response to Teri's voice, Sticky snapped out of whatever trance he had been. He took one long look at Teri and then fainted.

Teri once again started to clamor. "All the more I have to be examined! For one, I could get sick and end up like that!"

The paper bear gestured to the pile of unconscious 2D stickman.

The bandaid nurse sighed. "His case is probably unrelated and for the billionth time, you are IN GOOD HEALTH! If you're so worried, I'd suggest you just go straight to the hospital and argue with the doctors there!"

"Very well!" With nothing else but a sigh of her own, Teri complied and left.

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it for now! Please tell me what you think so far in the reviews. Advice for writing is always welcome. This is Something logging off.<strong>


	2. Feelings, and Plan B

In the infirmary, Sticky was placed on a bed. By his side, his friends stood. It had just been around five minutes since they found Sticky "frozen." Lewis examined his friend's face with a mixture of curiosity, and concern. Then he turned to the ever weary bandaid nurse. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Of course." The nurse replied with a neutral expression. "He seems to have some fatigue and weariness, but otherwise he'll do fine."

Matt glanced at Sticky, then he too turned to the school nurse. "Do you know why he fainted?"

"No. I'm not really sure. It could be too much anxiety-maybe social anxiety on his part." She replied.

Lewis the liger remembered the last time Sticky met Sarah when she was a new student. It was on a field trip then, and their class had been grouped with hers. Sticky and Lewis had to sit by Sarah.

"Hi!" Sarah had said, and Sticky immediately literally blew up. Lewis returned to the present. "Yup, that sounds like it. Sticky can be a nervous wreck."

The stickman finally stirred, and slowly his eyes opened up. The doodles on his face were still visible. Matt, Ronald and Lewis immediately shifted their attention on him, and tried hard not to laugh at the doodles.

"Finally, he moves." Walter said, ignoring the doodles completely.

The stickman shifted, and rubbed his eyes with his thin black limbs. "Uh…I didn't even see it."

The four leaned onto Sticky. "See what?"

"IT. Just one moment, I stood there. Then…then…"

"What is it man?" Lewis asked. "Spit it out!"

The stickman gestured with his hands as if he were a weather reporter. "It hit me like a stone, it struck me like a sword! It pierced me like an arrow, and it shocked me like lightning!" Then Sticky had abruptly sat up, upsetting a glass of water by the bedside he was lying on. Matt barely avoided the trickle of water, which went down straight into Ronald's snout.

Walter raised an eyebrow. "Has Tina been bullying you again?"

"Perhaps it was the ball after all?" Ronald suspected, rubbing himself dry with a towel that the nurse had given him.

"Nope, it was a feeling…a strong emotion..." Sticky said. He seemed uncertain, yet dreamy at the same time.

The others were just baffled and even amused. 'A feeling', they all thought.

Matt pursed his lips (or what resembled them). "Right…social anxiety?"

"Nope, thats not an emotion." Sticky replied.

Then something in the liger's mind clicked. He thought he knew what Sticky was talking about. "Oh…I think I know where this is going. Okay…" He sighed "…I bet Tobias told you that we uploaded that embarrassing video of you and now you're angry at us. I'm sorry dude but I knew you would kill me if I told you even though it was a long time ago.

"No…" Then the stickman's eyes widened. "Wait WHAT?"

All the occupants of the infirmary stared at the liger.

In a frenzy, the liger blurted out unorganized sentences and words in rapid succession. "Dangnabit-I meant-oh-sorry for uh that we I lost your-basketball! I meant-that oh! Wait, you don't have one. Wrong apology, my mouth slipped! It's nothing! It was a joke-wait again! I meant let me start again. It was a hacker with-oh who am I kidding? I'm so toasted-"

"ANYWAY" Matt calmed them down, "I guess we can settle that later. What was this…feeling?"

The stickman sat upright, a little reluctant at first. Eventually he spoke up. "It was..."

Somewhere in the world, two scientists were talking. "Lab." Said one of them.

A pretzel man was ordering a loaf of bread from the counter. "Loaf." He said to the man behind the counter.

A bottle of wine was buying eggs in France. "L'oeuf." She said to the egg seller.

A mime origami man failed at a joke, and asked the audience to, "Laugh."

A tennis match had began in Richwood High. Mr. Kreese shouted, "Love!"

A sushi in Japan gave a rose to a sashimi, expressing his "Love."

And finally a stickman with his four friends confessed his feelings. "…love."

* * *

><p>Everyone was amazed by this answer. It wasn't really expected. Walter gasped, exhaling bottles from a nearby shelf; Lewis' ears exploded; Matt's eyes grew as large as basketballs; Ronald wobbled and gaped; and the bandaid nurse was surprised by the loud gasp of Walter.<p>

The watermelon spat out the bottles (and gently as he could, set them on the floor). "Seriously?" The normally taciturn watermelon asked. "All that time you were as stiff as statue, you were in love?"

Lewis grew back his ears. He pretended not to care. "Meh."

Matt was the opposite. Suddenly Sticky found his grinning face leaning closer to his. "No way! Who?"

Sticky became dreamy and full of cheeriness, full of emotion and motion. Normally, he was stiff and rigid. But now, he moved smoothly with his lines becoming curves. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not really." Lewis admitted, "Is it Penny? Carmen? Sussie?"

"No because she has Gumball, no because she has Alan" Then for a while, Sticky was his usual self, "and no because ewwww. No offense."

"Must be Teri?"

Sticky's cheeriness came back in an instant. He nodded in submission with a wide smile on his flat face. "The fine maiden with the sweet face that shines in a world of black, gray and white!" Sticky began to dance in the air.

Lewis scratched one of his ears. "I always wonder why most people who are in love suddenly have a more improved vocabulary."

"Pssssh." Matt leaned towards Lewis. "It's Sticky remember? The guy who's married with his homework, loves mathematics and talks 'manifoldly' instead of 'simply'. "

"Right." Lewis nodded, "So that probably means he's finally breaking up with his homework."

* * *

><p>"Oh come on! Why isn't he showing up?" Gumball asked rhetorically, from inside a cramped compartment.<p>

It had been about an hour already, and yet the Watterson duo were still stuck hiding inside the lockers in the hallway.

"Maybe we should move on to plan B?" Darwin suggested, with his face pressed through the grilles of his locker.

The blue cat tried to cock an ear towards Darwin in the nearby compartment, but it was pressed flat against the confines. "What's plan B?"

"Something other than staying in a very cramped space for possibly hours and waiting for someone in one place who might not show up after all and in the end likely wasting our time? Seriously, we need to start moving around if we're going to ever find him."

Gumball opened his mouth, prepared to reply. Then the bell rang signaling that recess was over, and the time for class came upon them. At this, Gumball instinctively tried to turn his head towards the source of the sound, but it was stuck in a cramped space. "Fine. Okay, lets go with that!" Gumball kicked the locker to get it open. It didn't. "Ah! Uh Darwin, buddy…please tell me that you aren't trapped in place."

The legged fish was happy to do so. "I'm not trapped in place. There I told you, why?"

"Because I'm locked in, and I can't get out."

"Don't worry, I could get you out-"

"Whoops, almost forgot to lock my locker!" A raspy cheerful voice that belonged to Banana Joe interjected. "I shouldn't forget if I want to be "lock-y" today. Ahahahahaha!"

"Darwin quick!" Gumball hissed, "I think I might become claustrophobic!"

Next to him, Darwin heard the taps of Banana Joe's small footsteps, the sound of his locker clicking shut, and the banana walking away, whistling with cheer. He helplessly listened as Banana Joe's footsteps fade. Now they were both doomed.

"…Please tell me that you still aren't trapped in place?"

Darwin could not reply. The Wattersons screamed in terror, not one student or teacher hearing them from the lockers.

* * *

><p>At lunchtime, Walter, Matt, Lewis, Ronald and Sticky were out in the schoolyard, hanging out as they usually did. They were settled on a bench with a small wooden table. Some of them brought their lunches. Many students were out in the yard. Even some school staff could be seen.<p>

"Alright. Plan B!" Gumball declared to no one in particular. "We hide up in a tree, and spy on people. I guess it beats hiding in a locker. See him yet?"

"Hmmmm…nope." Darwin replied, the locker grille's imprints still slightly visible on his face.

The two were hidden up in a tree, in the schoolyard. It was located near the side of the yard's fence. Luckily for them, they were able to get out of the lockers with Rocky's help (he had heard them on his way for break). It had taken the whole class sessions in between recess, and lunch for the genial puppet to free them. Fortunately for them, Miss Simian didn't care much that they had not turned up during her time (she had more than expected it to happen someday).

Darwin sheltered his eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun with a fin. "I don't even think he came today."

"Lets just keep looking!" Gumball said. Then he thought he spotted something out in the yard: it looked like a large bouncy irregular ball. Grabbing a pair of Daisy the Donkey binoculars, he looked through them at the bouncy object only to find Teri's crumpled face. In disappointment, he lowered the binoculars. "Hmmm..."

* * *

><p>"Hey guys! Wanna play soccer? I brought a new ball!" Lewis said, revealing said object. "I also made sure that the field was a hundred percent clean."<p>

Ronald hopped with joy. "Yeah! Soccer!"

"Sure." Matt said eagerly. He was almost always in good humor.

"You guys go ahead," Sticky reluctantly spoke. "I've got some work to do."

The liger turned to the stickman. "Work? But it's lunch break," He muttered to himself "and I thought you broke up with work."

"Eh, you know him. 'Educationals' before pals." His watermelon friend whispered, then shrugged.

"Yeah. But still," Lewis eyed Sticky questioning stare. "What work exactly?"

"Homework," the stickman replied without hesitation, "so I'm not bothered by it later."

'Looks like he's not giving up work yet after all' Lewis thought. "Oh come on man, thats why its called that: _home-_work…wait a minute." The liger noticed something odd. Through the very flat and thin frame of Sticky, one could make out something bulgy. Lewis noticed its was heart shaped. "You're probably up to something...which involves sneaking to a certain someone-" Then he notices a bouquet-shaped bulge in the stickman's frame. "-and giving that certain someone flowers and some chocolate, then asking her out. The someone you love who has nicely drawn features…and is a hypochondriac."

Sticky sighed, and blushed madly. He sweated uncomfortably, and gazed at the ground. "I guess it was obvious anyway."

"Ha!" The liger exclaimed, "I knew something was fishy when you said you were going back to your first love, (A.K.A work) after recently confessing your love to another!"

"What?" Sticky replied almost absent-mindedly, and still blushing.

The watermelon finished his sandwich. "You know, I've been thinking. What is it exactly that you like about her?"

"And why only now?" Ronald clinked, "She's here all the time and then it's now that you only get lovestruck."

Sticky lost focus and dreamily gazed up at the heavens. He seemed to lose all his worries, and float on a cushion of pure happiness. "Well it all started when she looked into my eyes. That's when I froze with emotion, with…with passion! I didn't realize her until now! She was beautiful, and very kind. Her eyes were sweet, and her cute little nose. I love the way she moves, and how her ears are just so beautiful and elegant! When she laughs, I smile and my hopes are lifted, and when she smiles I cannot help but laugh inside and be so peaceful. When I look at her, she reminds me of beauty itself and my heart does a dance. When she stands in the light, I can see through her and inside her both spiritually and physically! Her voice, the way she speaks-a dance of ten thousand-"

"Okay! okay. A little too cheesy there my friend." Lewis said, pinching his nose.

And indeed it smelled of cheese. Nearby, Tina was sweating as she played jumping rope with some other students, while Hector was eating a large cheese sandwich.

"You could have just told us what you were up to instead of sneaking away." Walter shrugged again.

"Yeah, exactly." Then Matt thought to himself. "I love stalking people when they're in love."

Sticky started to recompose himself. "Hehe, I felt a bit awkward about it at first. But now you guys seem okay with it."

Lewis was about to place a paw on Sticky's shoulder, but thought better of it. He might have squished his thin friend with even just the weight of his arm. "Of course. Its not like we really care…" Then he quickly added, "that much. Just go to her."

"Haha!" Sticky laughed nervously, and smiled. "Okay, see you later!"

"Good luck!" The doormat laughed heartily. They watched as the stickman left them and went into the playground in search of his "love." The cheese scent was becoming so strong that three of the four remaining students were considering moving to another place. Only Ronald (who lacked a nose) remained unperturbed.

"Good luck to him." Walter remarked. "I never thought Sticky could be so cheesy."

Then a thought struck Lewis. "By the way…where's Teri?"

* * *

><p>As if in cue, Teri appeared seemingly out of nowhere near the school's wall. She looked around, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Then she put on a fedora when suddenly:<p>

"Hey Teri!"

At this, she quickly motioned as if to take the hat off. She wasn't fast enough. "Oh, hey Carmen!" She waved at her friend.

The intelligent cactus approached her, a curious look on her face. "I thought you were in the hospital?"

"Yeah, but I'm okay…now." Teri said.

Carmen thought the little hat was amusing. "Haha nice hat-is there something wrong?" Teri looked nervous, and indeed she was sweating (how that is possible as she is made of paper, it's not really known). It was as if she was looking out for stalkers. But she was mostly nervous at times from having germs, and bacteria all over the place. Then Carmen thought she noticed something. "You seem to have grown shorter."

"Yes, I had to…uh…get my feet clipped because of the filth a while ago. It is less painful than it sounds. That's also why I didn't have to go to the hospital after all."

Carmen squinted her eyes as if in suspicion. It turned out she was inspecting the paper bear's feet. "Oh, okay"

* * *

><p>Not long after, Carmen brought Teri to were the girls were hanging out. They were by the other side of the yard were Matt, Walter, Ronald and Lewis stayed. Teri was talking with the other girls, and having a pleasant time when Sticky approached them. Sticky glanced at his friends. Matt (all the way in the other side of the yard) responded back to Sticky through a wave. And so Sticky took heart, and went up to Teri. He could feel himself becoming weaker, while at the same time his pale white face flushed with red and his chest expand with its 2-dimensional heart. "He..lo..y hi there Teri." At this, he could not help but face palm inside.<p>

Teri did not seem to mind. "Oh hello…what's your name?"

"My name is Sticky. You can just call me Sticky swee-Teri. Uh yeah, kay."

"Sticky Sweet Teriyaki?" Teri asked.

"No, just Sticky haha yeah. I just wanted to say hi-to see what you uh…were up to..." He gave a sheepish smile.

* * *

><p>At the bench where the four others sat, Matt watched with amusement and delight. The cheesy scent had already gone, and the four didn't have to move away after all. The doormat munched on his ham sandwich with much gusto that even from a distance, Anton could not help but feel disturbed<p>

"This is gonna be interesting." He said to himself.

"Yeah…" Lewis agreed, but clearly not interested. Then he brightened up. "but I think I know what'll be more interesting for us: SOCCER!"

Ronald, Matt and Walter cheered.

Matt quickly dropped his gaze on Sticky. "Ronald, you and Walter versus me and Lewis. Pass me the ball! I'm gonna be the goal-"

Ronald (having no hands) passed the ball without a second thought, and did so clumsily. As a result the ball lacked accuracy, and hit Matt squarely in the forehead with much force, even for a small teapot. The soccer ball flew upwards from his face, and began to fall back down.

* * *

><p>"I like your nose." Sticky said, doing his best to express himself. "I think it's cute-I mean cutting edge-err quite nice hehe."<p>

"Thanks." The paper bear girl replied, "I like to keep it disinfected."

Before Sticky could respond (or even give his flowers and chocolates to the paper bear), a soccer ball from the sky knocked Sticky in the back, sending him forward with such force that he was launched into the arms of Teri. The ball bounced from his back, and into the school, traveling all the way to Mr. Small's office.

As he was meditating, the Soccer ball crashed into the door's window and crashed directly into his fluffy face. "Ow…mmmmm. Ohmmmmm"

Back outside, Teri felt awkward as Sticky fell on her.

They held each other for a while in what resembled a hug. Then the stickman (feeling like he was going to explode or shrivel up) quickly released Teri. Thankfully for Sticky, no one in the yard had really noticed this because they were busy with their business, or whatever they were doing. "Sorry! My bad...um haha!" The stickman was starting to hate himself for laughing nervously all the time.

Still, Teri didn't seem mind. But she seemed a little unsure, and nervous herself. She smiled anyway. "Thats okay"

* * *

><p>"…agh." The doormat lay flat on his back, staring at the sun. The sun smiled back, not knowing of what the doormat had been through. Lewis, Ronald and Walter checked him to see if he was okay. They could see a faint checker mark on his face, the same pattern from the black and white soccer ball.<p>

Ronald hopped guiltily to Matt. "Oh…my…go-I am so sorry!"

With some effort, the doormat got up. "No problem. I mean I've experienced worse before. After all I'm a doormat, and people used to step on me…a lot." The mat crawled, and took a seat on a bench near Lewis. Suddenly, Sticky ran back to them. At this, the doormat suddenly flipped back upright as if he was never struck in the face and was perfectly fine. "So what happened?"

"I couldn't give her the chocolates and flowers." Sticky said, beaming shyly. "But I kind of gave her a hug…"

Lewis finally perked up with some interest. "…and?"

Sticky blushed, and chuckled nervously. "It went great. I just…couldn't breathe after that."

The doormat became excited. "No way? And she didn't mind? That means she could like you! You should totally go on a date with her."

Sticky's white face became pink. He instantly protested. "Just a hug man. An accidental one actually. It doesn't necessarily mean-"

"YOU should totally go on a date with her!"

"But I've never had a girlfriend…"

"That's where I come in!" Matt said, putting an arm around the stickman. The stickman was so thin though that Matt practically hugged himself. "You might have not heard, but I've had lots of dates throughout my years." Indeed, Matt's lunchbox was full of dates and figs.

Ronald hopped on beside it to inspect its seams bursting with dates. "You mean the ones that make you poop?"

"Shhhhh…" Matt rolled his eyes at the teapot, and returned to Sticky. "Before I can help you out, ask her out first! Try going to her again."

"I guess I could. But I feel so weak and…and so-"

"Trust yourself man! Believe in yourself! Be strong, love is supposed to make you strong! Before lunch ends, come upon her and ask her for thy hand!"

This time, Ronald rolled his eyes at the doormat. " 'Thy hand' be too Elizabethan for me own tastes does thou think so?"

Walter tapped his chest nonchalantly. "So formal."

"And British." Lewis added with an accent.

Sticky steeled himself, confidence gaining on him. "Alright, I'll...do it again!" Then he collapsed on his face. "I'll need some support though."

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter coming out soon! (Yeah, I guess I say that a lot. Just automatically assume that the next part of each of my stories will be coming out within the week unless I say so). Also, thanks once again to those who reviewed this story.<strong>

******To DistortionDaxe, I'll keep your advice in mind for my possible future stories. As for the origin of the title, it will be revealed (or rather hinted) in the next chapter.**

**This is Something, logging off.**


	3. The Culprit Revealed

**Sorry if I kept anyone waiting. Here's the next part!**

* * *

><p>Once more, Sticky braced himself and approached the paper bear girl. He inhaled deeply, then exhaled nervously. Sticky was probably one of the most timid students in Elmore Junior High, and would probably have been best pals with Molly if she had not stayed in the void for a long time.<p>

He scratched the back of his head. "Um, hello Teri hehe. Can I speak with you for a second?"

Teri seemed to be looking around, and Sticky had caught her off guard when he spoke. She gave a little surprised hop, and faced the stickman.

"Oh hehe! Didn't mean to disturb you there." The nervous stickman student cleared his throat. "I know that we just met and all but…" Taking his flowers and chocolates out of his pockets, he asked: "Will you go out with me?"

Then suddenly Teri was gone as if by magic.

* * *

><p>Still up in their tree outpost, the Watterson brothers sat comfortably. They were eating burritos, and having some refreshing apple juice. But while they chilled, Gumball never took his eyes off the schoolyard.<p>

"I don't think we'll ever find him. Its been all day." Darwin said after a bite of his succulent meal.

"It hasn't been all day." Gumball said, finishing his burrito with surprising speed. "Not yet at least. If it takes until Christmas to find him, then so be it!" The blue cat took the binoculars with his clean hand, and peered towards the students in the yard. All the students were still busy with whatever they were doing. Mr. Small emerged from a door with what looked like a crater in his face, and a ball in one hand. From afar, the blue cat watched as a frowning Mr. Small passed the ball back to a liger student.

Darwin tucked into his burrito, and finished it soon in a few bites. "D'you think he morphed into someone?"

Gumball pushed his eyes into the binoculars in an attempt to maximize his vision. "It's a possibility! I thought I saw him bouncing like an evil scheming pile of plasticine!" He continued to spy on the area with his binoculars when suddenly a ball flew to him, hitting him right in the face. It fell back down, leaving the binoculars embedded into Gumball's face. "…ouch."

* * *

><p>The stickman had no idea what had happened. First thing, Teri was gone. Then she somehow just appeared behind him. This time, Sticky strolled to her with some uncertainty, and swiftly gave (almost to the point of unintentionally shoving) his flowers and chocolates to Teri if ever she disappeared again.<p>

The paper cutout bear seemed clueless, when she saw Sticky giving her the flowers and chocolate. "Oh, thanks." She said, almost nonchalantly.

Sticky winked. "You're very welcome! Also I wanted to say something to you a while ago."

And again she was gone, with his flowers left behind on the ground.

Sticky gaped momentarily on the spot where she was a second ago, as if gaping would bring her back. He was starting to feel a crushing emotion, and an aching in his linear chest. 'What if...she doesn't like me after all?' he thought. From his mind he heard an inner voice echo Matt's words. "Trust yourself man! Be strong, love is supposed to make you strong…"

Turning to his side, he saw Matt whispering in his ear.

'Now that I think about it, those words sound like they came from those particular movies, especially the Daisy channel movies' the stickman thought.

Out of nearby trash bins and bushes, Ronald, Walter, and Lewis poked their heads.

"I probably need some more help here." The stickman said to them in an almost defeated tone.

"Maybe" Matt said, "but just keep believing in yourself!"

"And I thought you guys were out playing soccer?" Sticky raised his eyebrow.

"We are. We're just checking on you." The liger said, while glancing at his ball that he held with one arm.

* * *

><p>In the middle of the hallway, Gumball and Darwin stood out, their expressions as stern and vigilant as those on gargoyle statues. The school hallway at this time was filled with activity. Rocky was drilling a sign of some sort; Carmen and Penny were talking; Principal Brown and Miss Simian were flirting as always; the Eggheads were talking science; and Hotdog Guy looked like he was combing his buns.<p>

The Watterson brothers just stood there, eyeing everyone with suspicion.

"Ready for plan C?" Gumball whispered questioningly to Darwin.

"Mhmm. So who should we start with first?" Asked Darwin with a serious tone.

"Let's choose someone that's the closest to him." Gumball held his chin. "If he were to morph to someone, he would probably be…" A memory came to mind. It was of a banana milkshake joke in the cafeteria. The joke was done by their prey disguised as none other than…

Banana Joe, who was merrily walking by as if he didn't have a care in the world.

In passing by, Gumball abruptly grabbed the banana by the head, and swung him into a corner. The brothers flanked him with their backs to the light, casting a sinister shadow over the banana. The banana could swear there was an unnatural fire that burst from their eyes.

"So," the blue cat folded his arms. "tell us. What's your real identity Banana Joe? Or should I say…_Clayton!?_"

Banana Joe gasped on his knees. But instead of admitting, he let out frightened words. "AH! Please don't hurt me! I'm not Clayton!"

Darwin spoke up with his evil voice. "Prove it!"

"H-how?" The banana cowered.

Then for a while, all shadows and airs of intimidation from the Wattersons died out.

Gumball thought for a while. "Hmm, haven't thought about that…tell us a joke."

Banana Joe tapped his chin (or what resembled it). "O-okay…why was the banana scared? Because bananana!"

The "bananana" part was sung in the famous Beethoven symphony melody. The joke wasn't that clear though, and took a while for Gumball and Darwin to get it. The cat and fish duo thought for a while after getting it, then just looked at one another and nodded.

"Also if it helps" the banana added, "I did see Clayton this morning! I saw him in the infirmary a while ago. Trust me!"

The Wattersons just nodded again. Their airs of intimidation came back as sudden as they died out a while ago, and their shadows returned. Gumball's gaze was something that almost looked like his mother's (and no doubt could have made her proud). The blue cat didn't really mean any harm though. "You have done wisely, good banana. And please don't tell anyone about this. You've seen nothing..."

Banana Joe nervously winked, and gave a thumbs up. He started to regain his composure, and be at ease once the duo left. Then as if nothing had happened, he continued walking merrily. As he did this, the brothers had sauntered back into the hallway with the lockers, searching their next target.

"Lets try asking nicely next time." Darwin suggested.

* * *

><p>"Noooo!" Cried Lewis.<p>

It was the middle of lunchtime. While they were playing an intense match of soccer, Lewis' new ball had been kicked up high into the air, and landed into the trash bin. "I just bought that ball..." Lewis picked it up with a ginger paw, but could not since his paws were too small. He improvised by using the zip-lock bag of his sandwich to cover his paws as he picked up the ball.

"It's just trash, at least it isn't dog poop." Matt remarked optimistically.

"Yuck." Ronald inched away from the ball. "I am not touching that with my body. Just clean it up."

They went to sit down on the same bench were they had sat during the previous recess session.

As they continued commenting on the soccer ball and how Lewis was overreacting, an exasperated Sticky came back to them, wilted flowers in his hand. "I can't do it! For the infinite time, she just disappears before I can even say one thing to her."

Lewis reached for a cloth to wipe his ball with, and instead grabbed Matt by mistake. "Coincidental disappearance?" After a hesitant pause, "Or I hate to say this but maybe she's really not interested in you after all."

"Maybe she's there, but she just turns at an angle where she seems to 'disappear'. " Walter said.

"What?" Sticky massaged his thin weary legs.

"She's so thin that when you stare at her side, you can barely make out her outline." The watermelon tried demonstrating it with a napkin. His friends got at least a faint idea of what he was trying to tell them.

Lewis then suddenly released Matt when he almost proceeded to wipe the ball with him. Matt dusted himself, but still kept his bright mood. "Whatever happens, never give up and believe in yourself!"

* * *

><p>"I sincerely apologize for your trouble." Near the school, an impatient Gumball, with Darwin at his side was interrogating Alan. The teal balloon was generously trading their time with eternal forgiveness. "Seriously I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sorry that I upset you, and I really am sorry for not being able to help."<p>

Darwin whispered to Gumball. "It's obvious he's not him. He could never float like that."

"You can never be sure Darwin." Gumball whispered back. "As they always say, 'how do you know if you haven't tried them?' "

Darwin scratched his head. "I thought it was 'how do you know you don't like it if you haven't tried it yet?"

Gumball just turned to the balloon. "Alright Alan, you're…free." The blue cat turned to the schoolyard, choosing his next suspect. "Hey TOBIAS!"

Tobias was playing ball with Idaho when he was abruptly caught by Gumball's words. At the blue feline's call, Tobias flinched, and turned to him. "What do you want?"

Gumball took a large daunting step toward the rainbow lad. "Have you seen Clayton?"

Tobias just shrugged.

"In that case, I want you to prove yourself!"

Tobias raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do what you do." Darwin imitated Tobias flexing his (small) muscles. "Pump some weights!"

"Okay?" A complacent smile was carved into Tobias' lips in barely a second. "Sure, I'll do it…for the ladies." The rainbow lad saw, and took two large blocks of concrete nearby to substitute for weights. He smiled, and winked at the ladies (who either ignored him, or didn't pay attention). The lad struggled to lift the two blocks up. Even carrying them proved hard enough for him. "Check…this…ah…out…!" Then the concrete slabs fell, and pinned down Tobias on the ground.

Gumball didn't have to think about this. "Definitely not him."

"Yup." Darwin readily agreed.

The duo continued on, and resumed interrogating random people who they encountered.

* * *

><p>Teri was pinned flat against the building's side wall, giving the impression that she was hiding. She was aware of Sticky trying to ask her out, and also of Gumball and Darwin's interrogations. The paper bear girl watched as Gumball interrogated a confused Leslie. Once they had finished, and went back into the school building, she thought that she was safe and sound, and let out a sigh. Teri proceeded to flee from the yard, only to be surprised by someone jumping out of nowhere.<p>

It was Sticky. "Heyas! Sorry for surpri-"

"AH!" Before he could finish his sentence, Teri punched him.

Her punch was surprisingly strong that Sticky went through the school fence, and unto the road. Several cars ran over him. "AH! I'm okay. I am 2-dimensional after all-" The wind picked him up, then flew him over the cars. He flew into the other side of the sidewalk, across the school. Luckily for him, he landed in a place where he would be safe from the road. Unluckily for him, that place turned out to be the garbage bin. The stench inside the bin was enough to make him pass out for a moment.

Teri stood in shock, thinking about what she had just done. Then all she could do was check if anyone was looking, shrug, and then morph into Sticky.

* * *

><p><strong>Heyas, me again just saying that the next chapter will be the final part. I give my thanks again to all who review (and reviewed) my stories. This is Something logging off.<br>**


	4. The Doppelgänger Caught

"Did you just almost use me to clean the soccer ball?" Matt asked, albeit with mock anger.

"Eh-at least like you said: at least it isn't poop." Lewis retorted.

"Yeah, but you could have made me lick the garbage off or worse." Matt shivered.

Before Lewis could retort, the Wattersons approached them, and cut in.

Gumball cleared his throat. "Excuse me uh..."

"Name's Matt." Matt introduced. He was followed by the others.

"Walter Waters."

"Ronald."

"Lew-"

"Yeah whatever. I know some of your names." Gumball said, "We're just gonna go straight to the point: have-"

"Hey, what's going on guys!?" Once again, they were interrupted. This time, it was Sticky.

"Nothing much" Matt replied, "except these guys have our attention."

The stickman went to their table. He stopped by, and was about to say something again only to be surprised, and silenced by the Watterson's presence.

Gumball didn't mind him, but did keep an eye on him. "Moving on, have any of you seen Clayton?"

"For those who don't know-" Darwin continued, "he's colored red, pink-purple lips, large eyes and bounces around. Also he can be such a liar and can also shape-shift…"

Then the blue cat leaned forward on Matt and his friends, casting a cold shadow over them. For a while, Sticky literally froze. "…and could be by some chance disguised as one of you guys."

Matt the doormat did know Clayton, but only by appearance and name. He still didn't know what the clay pile was capable of, nor did he believe he could actually shape-shift. "Noooooo…? Not so familiar with him. But yeah, I think I saw him or at least someone like him yesterday."

"Well, if it counts-" the teapot clinked, "my middle name is Clayton."

The brothers eyed him with suspicion. This made the clay teapot uncomfortable. "…just a middle name."

"Oh, okay." Darwin said cheerily, to ease up Ronald. Gumball remained extremely attentive.

"Why are you looking for him anyway?" Walter wondered.

The cat scrunched his eyebrows so much, he cracked them like knuckles. "Because we've got business with him."

"Sorry, but we'd rather not tell." Darwin added once more.

The stickman seemed to regain his composure, and was smiling again. "If you don't mind…I'll be going."

"Yeah, wait." Gumball blocked Sticky's path. "Just one more thing: we want you all to prove that you aren't Clayton in disguise."

Matt shrugged. "We told you, we haven't seen Clayton anywhere lately. Plus how are we supposed to do that?"

"Try morphing." Darwin, the legged fish suggested.

Matt strained himself, and attempted to morph. He put so much strain that much of his cloth "fur" came off. "Whoa!" The bald doormat put pressure again, and grew another coat of tangly skin, slightly softer than his last coat. "Well, there you go."

Before anyone could respond, they were then interrupted once more, this time by Teri's scream.

"You need to get cleaned up, otherwise you'll get sick and infected!" The voice of the paper girl said from a distance.

Turning to her direction, they saw a stickman emerge from the school building. He was running from Teri as she chased him with a bottle of orange scented disinfectant.

* * *

><p>"Ah! Stop!" The second Sticky pleaded. "First you punched me away, then you spray me with orange scent!? I'm allergic to oranges even if it's just their scent!"<p>

Ronald, Walter, the first Sticky, Lewis, Darwin and Gumball all watched as the paper bear chased the stickman around.

"What the…?" Lewis gaped.

"…bacon…" Matt continued.

Ronald strained his eyes. "…lettuce…"

"…and tomato sandwich!" The first Sticky added somewhat cheerily.

They all looked past the second stickman, and the paper bear at a BLT advertisement poster.

"What are you looking at?" The BLT poster said to them.

"What? Never seen that flyer before?" Darwin asked.

Lewis nodded. "I'm kinda new here."

Eventually, the second stickman came running to the group with Teri on his trail. "Please! If it helps I'll just stop and avoid you forever as long as it makes you happy!"

"Hold still!" The paper bear tackled Sticky, and sprayed his face with air freshener and disinfectant.

"Well Sticky! At least she cares about your hygiene." Matt remarked cheerily.

"I can't breathe! Too much…orange scent!" The second Sticky coughed.

The first Sticky backed away, also coughing slightly from the orange scent. Matt snickered at him. But then he noticed something off, and stopped snickering. 'Why didn't he realize it sooner?' he thought.

Gumball noticed the two Stickys. "Wait a minute, do you have a twin?" He asked the first.

"Err…nope." The first one answered sheepishly.

The second Sticky fell down on the ground as Teri sprayed him up. Then she only stopped when the second Sticky went limp and still, after he was was sprayed and cleansed thoroughly. He shined and glimmered, showing that he was indeed squeaky clean with  
>disinfectant.<p>

The Wattersons, Lewis, Matt, Walter, Ronald and Teri finally completely grasped that there were two Stickys.

* * *

><p>"Um..." Everyone wondered in unison.<p>

Lewis pointed at one of the Stickys, and shouted, "Doppelgänger!"

"I knew I shouldn't have eaten those dates." Matt muttered.

Lewis grabbed a rock-hard bagel, and was about to beat up the unconscious Sticky with it when he was stopped by Walter.

"Wait a minute! That's no doppelgänger" Walter the watermelon said, "it's…"

The blue cat stepped forward to both the unconscious, and conscious Sticky. He rubbed his paws with glee. "Well well well, if it isn't obviously Clayton! Or at least one of you is."

The first Sticky was taken aback. He yelled at his copy in disbelief. "How dare you copy me-and-and try to replace me in society!"

The unconscious Sticky started to come to. He looked at the paper bear with a sad apologetic smile. It seemed like he wasn't even aware of his twin. "Teri…"

Teri was uncertain. "What?"

"…If it bugs you too much…I'll just leave you alone. Forever..." And with that, he fainted again.

Teri seemed a bit confused. "What is he talking about?"

Matt spoke up for the second Sticky. "Well what he-who could be either Clayton or my battered friend-is trying to say is-"

"He was asking you out in the schoolyard this lunch, don't you remember?" Walter explained, "But then he thinks you dislike him or something since you kept disappearing before he could talk to you…or something. By the looks of it, he thinks you're trying to repel him."

The paper bear raised a drawn eyebrow. "But…I don't remember him asking me anything. In fact I wasn't even here during lunchtime. I visited the hospital and just arrived minutes ago."

Gumball practically pierced Teri's face with his sharp gaze. "So, that can only mean that Clayton must be-"

Everyone turned to the second Sticky. He was lying on the ground peacefully with his mouth wide open.

Walter thought for a while. "But then he couldn't have lied about going to Teri. Teri was surely here during lunchtime…"

Darwin agreed. "I'm pretty sure I saw her too."

"Yeah" Gumball deadpanned, "so did I."

Everyone turned to Teri. The bear stared around, and finally grasped the message. "What? You're suspecting me of being Clayton?! If you want proof of my visit to the hospital, take a look at this!"

She handed Walter a medical receipt. The watermelon passed it to Gumball.

Then Teri faced Lewis. "And anyway, I thought you witnessed me leaving the infirmary for the hospital just after recess?"

"I thought you weren't being serious." Lewis raised his paws, and shrugged. "What if you lied for some reason?"

The paper bear gaped with amazement. "Excuse me? And for what particular reason?"

"…I don't know." Hesitantly, he said: "Maybe you just made up the receipt and lied about your visit to the hospital in order to preserve your dignity."

Before Teri could respond, Matt butted in. "Wait a minute! Sticky had mentioned Teri disappearing at times."

"…and?" Lewis and Gumball asked.

"Couldn't that Teri have been Clayton in disguise trying to avoid Sticky?"

Walter nodded. "That could be true…"

"If that's true, we could just ask Teri about what had happened today." Darwin thought.

Teri exhaled almost exasperatedly. "I told you, I was at the hospital."

"Then that's easy." Lewis replied, "All you have to do to prove your innocence is to answer this question: did you hug Sticky?"

Teri seemed disgusted by the very idea. "You mean that disgusting biohazard who was reeking of sickness? Eugh no. And why are you still suspecting me when it's pretty obvious who Clayton could be: there are two of the same people, and only one could be real!"

The liger's face looked as if he was slapped not just in the face, but everywhere on his body. Gumball, Darwin, and Matt showed a similar expression, but with a more gentler expression since Lewis was the one who was mainly pressing the suspicion on Teri. The silent liger quickly regained his face's composure. "Haha right…fair point, and now I kinda feel dumb for suspecting you. Still, that would mean that Clayton disguised himself as Teri during early lunch-"

"-and later morphed into Tammy!" Gumball chimed in.

"You mean Sticky?"

"So two Stickys." The legged fish rubbed his chin, "The unconscious one didn't lie about talking to the fake Teri. He went to the fake Teri, then later fake Teri or Clayton could have knocked him out and replaced him..."

"And I remember the 'Sticky' here who's still conscious waltzed up here…and acted as if he were pretending nothing had happened." The doormat thought.

Then everyone eyed the first Sticky with ferocious question.

"What? Are you accusing me?" The first Sticky asked rather boldly. "I am the real Sticky. For all we could know, the unconscious sticky could have been Clayton from the very start."

"Doubt it. Sticky seemed himself this morning until recess when he became immobile. And then we brought him to the infirmary." Lewis said, his voice now coated with a tone of skepticism.

"Banana Joe did say he saw Clayton in the infirmary after recess." Gumball said.

"But we were with Sticky in the infirmary the whole time and left after recess." Walter responded, "None of us saw Clayton."

Ronald was starting to get dizzy. "Can someone please clear this up? My head is starting to spin." Indeed his cap was spinning around.

"Okay!" Gumball proudly took the lead. It was his (and Darwin's) issue after all. "So-Clayton morphed into Teri knowing that she was going to the hospital. This is even proved by the fact that Banana Joe said he saw Clayton in the infirmary. Then afterwards, 'Teri' or rather Clayton beat up the real Timmy-"

"-Sticky." Lewis corrected.

"-and replaced him." Gumball continued. "Then while me, and Darwin were interrogating you guys, Clayton thought he could blend in inconspicuously, But the original Stevie-"

"STICKY!"

"Whatever, the original Sticky messed up his cover when the real one was being chased by Teri. And here you are right now-Boom! After all this time we have finally caught you!"

Gumball pointed a finger at the first Sticky. Unfortunately the pointed finger landed on empty space.

Sticky number one had disappeared.

Darwin groaned. "Oh man."

"…and we were so close." His feline brother deadpanned.

But not too long later, their attention was caught by the sound of girls screaming, and the sound of a table being flipped over. The girls had been eating lunch at a table when it was turned over.

Lewis thought he could make out a ball of clay amongst the chaos morph into one of the girls. "Over there! I saw him."

"Then lets go!" Gumball gestured for them to come along.

Matt scratched his head. "Oh, actually we're in the middle of a soccer-"

"Just come with us, and help us."

* * *

><p>All of them ran to the flipped over table. The girls were fixing up their lunches, and recovering their scattered belongings on the schoolyard ground.<p>

Gumball eyed all of them suspiciously. "Alright Clayton, give it up!"

Masami stopped at this, and raised a cloudy eyebrow. "What? Clayton? Where?"

The cloud looked at Sarah in a peculiar way. "I thought you were practicing with Penny, and Carmen with cheerleading."

"That's because she's no Sarah." Gumball said with a victorious grin. "It's Clayton!"

The cat leapt on Sarah, and Darwin pinned her down. Knowing he stood no more chances, Clayton morphed back into a pile of clay, revealing his true form.

Everyone gasped in surprise, or in relief (relief specifically for Gumball and Darwin since the confusion was surely over).

"Ah! Okay okay! You found me." A defeated Clayton raised his arms.

Gumball held the clay with both his hands. If he had absolutely inherited his mother's lazier vision, Clayton could have been a liquid puddle. "What the buzz man! We were looking all day for you. Why were you hiding from us?"

"Well, I thought you would get mad at me." The clay ball had a worried look on his face. "Then we would lose our friendship."

"Oh of course not!" Gumball rolled his eyes. "Just admit that you lied about me-uh..."

The blue cat looked uneasily around at the crowd, and along with Darwin sidled closer to Clayton. They both whisked Clayton further away from the crowd, and Gumball whispered to the pile of clay.

Ronald hopped to them. "Wha-"

"Privacy please." Gumball said, thrusting the teapot away.

The continued to talk in hushed voices. Lewis perked an ear up but still couldn't hear much. He only heard a handful and thought he could hear Clayton admit something. "Okay. I admit it…"

Before Lewis could get inconspicuously closer, the Wattersons and Clayton hugged. Lewis still held up an ear.

"See it wasn't that bad…but…" Gumball started speaking in harsher hushed tones. He also made as if to crack his knuckles.

Clayton nodded then saluted with a smile and bounced away.

Meanwhile Ronald, Matt, Lewis, Walter, Masami, Teri and the other girls were watching curiously. Gumball and Darwin were about to walk away when they forgot about the large crowd they had attracted by accident.

"What was that all about?" Masami demanded, more than asked.

"Eh-Nothing." The Watterson brothers said together.

The cloud eyed the blue cat with irritation. "Uh whatever. Come on girls, where were we?"

Teri left the boys to join with the girls as they cleaned up the still turned over table.

Lewis approached Gumball. "So what? All that...for just that?"

"Yup." Gumball said, contently folding his arms as if he were a spy who had successfully completed a mission.

"Probably personal business." Walter said to Lewis, "We shouldn't interfere."

Darwin smiled, as satisfied as Gumball. "Exactly."

* * *

><p>The bell's ringing had told them that school time was over. Everyone took off from their classrooms and raced down the hallway, collecting their books and bags. The five exited the school, and went walking along the streets to their homes. Sticky and the others were talking about Teri.<p>

The stickman had recovered, and was well in no time. "I don't think I want to ask Teri out anymore. After the way she treated me, she would never like me back."

"At least you tried." Lewis consoled.

Despite his recovery, Sticky remained clueless and uninformed about the fake Teri, his "twin" and the Clayton situation. It had been resolved peacefully with the Watterson brothers, but they didn't really want to tell Sticky much about it.

As Lewis and Sticky chatted on, Matt walked over to Ronald the teapot. While they walked (and hopped, for Ronald's sake), Matt asked, "So have you told Sticky about the whole situation?"

"Nope." The teapot admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because just imagine how he would feel if his efforts were in vain. He would go crazy if he found out he was asking Clayton out the whole time! Anyway it's pretty obvious that Teri doesn't like him, not after he was doused in garbage. It would just break his poor heart if he tried again."

"Haha, maybe. But I guess it's better to tell him soon."

The teapot considered this. "Mhmmm…maybe in 10 years time."

* * *

><p><strong>And that's all! Hoped you liked this story, and my thanks to those who reviewed and liked it. By the way, an advanced Merry Christmas to you all. This is Something logging off!<strong> 


End file.
